By Shereen Siewert
A 41-year-old Wausau man will spend less than a year in prison after settling seven criminal cases with charges ranging from fifth-offense felony drunken driving to burglary, bail jumping and more.
Jonathan Huff was sentenced Nov. 9 in Marathon County Circuit Court to a year and a half in prison, but was granted 352 days credit for time served while awaiting trial. In addition to the brief prison term, Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill also sentenced Huff to three years of extended supervision following his release.
Online court records show Huff reached a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to the drunken driving charge and two counts of meth possession. Seventeen additional charges, which included multiple counts of burglary, criminal damage to property, resisting or obstructing an officer and bail jumping, were dismissed but read into the record at sentencing.
Huff made headlines in 2021 after his fifth-offense OWI arrest, after he was discovered asleep in his vehicle in a stranger’s driveway. Police say the vehicle was running and shifted in reverse gear, with Huff’s foot on the brake.
Deputies knocked on the window and eventually woke Huff, who was arrested after undergoing field sobriety tests. Police say Huff appeared confused, said he stopped to sleep, did not know he was in the driveway of someone’s home and thought he was in Merrill.
A K9 sniff led to a search where 11 grams of methamphetamine were discovered on the front passenger seat, according to court documents.
Huff faces charges in five separate cases, the most recent of which was filed in March. A plea hearing to resolve all cases was set for September, but Huff failed to appear, according to online court documents. That prompted Circuit Judge O’Neill to authorize a $10,000.00 bench warrant for Huff, who was arrested four days later.
Huff will be required to undergo treatment and maintain sobriety throughout his sentence.
